Chapter 160
From a scientific perspective, dreams are a form of brain activity during sleep, closely related to people's real life, desires, and thoughts, and serve as a window into the subconscious.
Repeated dreams may conceal the unspoken anxieties and stresses of the dreamer.
Yan Shuo couldn't remember the last time he had dreamed.
The moment a mortal becomes a god, the body undergoes a refining and restructuring from an organic form to an atomic structure amidst an explosive surge of power. Various congenital malformations, metabolic diseases, genetic disorders, and other physiological defects will be swept away in this process.
Since they don't suffer from neurasthenia, don't experience anxiety, and don't have sleep disorders, they naturally don't need to dream to relieve stress.
Their dreams are the outward spread of invisible consciousness, capturing countless details and dangerous clues across the world and the long river of time. As a result, the subconscious alarm bells ring loudly, frantically issuing warnings.
Such warnings often signify a kind of destiny-like instruction.
As Xie Xubai sank into a recurring, boundless dream, Yan Shuo also began to dream for the first time in a long time... No, rather than dreaming, it was more like a distant past, so distant that the years were blurred.
He couldn't remember how many times He had climbed ashore from the sea, his tentacles resting on his hungry belly as he frowned.
Now He is in His complete form, indiscriminate in his eating habits, and can easily eat a couple of bites of resentment emanating from the world. But when He was young, He was extremely picky about food, inexplicably delicate, and would not eat anything other than the purest and most refined faith of living beings.
Of all living things, humankind, who are uniquely blessed by nature, is the most prominent.
Therefore, the first thing He did after landing was to find a simple-minded human who was in danger and save Him, and then let Him Himself.
The world has changed a lot. In the past few thousand years, the once empty and desolate land has been covered with square wooden domes, which are scattered along both sides of the road. Some are exquisite and colorful, while others are simple and shabby.
He didn't spend much effort to learn from the whispers carried on the wind that those wooden shelters were houses built by humans to provide shelter from the wind and rain.
If it were just a place to live, there would be nothing special about it. The key is that some houses are given the titles of "home" or "clan," which invisibly brings together the beliefs of individuals or groups of people.
With the expectation of finally being able to enjoy a delicious meal, He rushed over, waving his tentacles without stopping.
They happened to witness the assassination attempt on the young patriarch of a powerful family. The assassin had cut off his arm, leaving him bleeding profusely and on the verge of death.
He observed the boy closely and saw that he was of pure heart and had no evil intentions, so He stepped in and saved him.
Finally, as if lost in thought, He picked up the severed arm, summoned His power, and barely managed to mend it back to the boy.
Such a miraculous scene terrified everyone, turning them pale and causing them to kneel and kowtow in despair, exclaiming that a deity had appeared.
Overjoyed and deeply grateful to be saved by the unexpected, the young clan leader, upon hearing His request to be fed, immediately reported the matter to the clan elders and built a shrine and Buddha statue for Him, so that He could enjoy the incense offerings of the clan members.
Because He dislikes moving, He often rests in the first shrine built for Him by humankind. The Buddha statue's head is round and smooth, with a suitable diameter, and eight tentacles lazily rest on it, just enough to spread out the suction cups.
Sleeping so comfortably naturally puts one in a good mood, and when fellow tribespeople make offerings and prayers, He is always willing to help.
Little did they know that some greedy and wicked people mistakenly believed that the Buddha statue in the ancestral hall was His incarnation. Once the news spread, it attracted countless people, and even kings and generals from all over the country were alarmed.
Countless people tried every means to seize the Buddha statue, hoping to take all the benefits for themselves. The struggle between a few people quickly escalated into a massive war.
Disaster struck.
Thousands of years ago, humans were still uncivilized savages. Coupled with scarce resources and the presence of wild beasts lurking all around, they frequently encountered cold waves, floods, storms, and famines. Countless lives were lost due to serious illness and injury. After all these factors reduced their numbers, a tribe could only have a hundred or two people at most, and even if they fought, they could not amount to much.
It was nothing like today, where hundreds of thousands or even millions of people unite to build magnificent cities and states. But when armies clash, corpses stretch for miles and rivers of blood flow.
He was awakened by the noise for no reason. He saw the flames of war spreading all around him and heard the pitiful screams and wails outside. His people and clansmen who offered incense were being brutally murdered. The peace and tranquility of the past had vanished in the blink of an eye. At the same time, a strange evil fire grew stronger and stronger.
Just then, robbers kicked the door open and smashed everything in sight, completely destroying the perfectly good ceramic ware.
At that time, according to human terms, He defined the shrine built by the local clans as "home," which was also His second territory besides His birthplace.
For any monster with a strong sense of possessiveness, the unprovoked invasion of its territory is a declaration of war and an unforgivable offense!
He immediately flew into a rage, and his powerful force rippled outwards like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down. In the blink of an eye, stones flew everywhere, weapons shattered, and all the invaders were reduced to ashes in the irresistible impact, unable to even utter a scream.
But He never expected that even after the invaders disappeared, the war was still raging.
Those familiar faces of their own people were still fighting, their eyes bloodshot, as if it were a fight to the death.
He was taken aback.
Only by catching the whispers carried on the wind did I realize that this conflict stemmed from the leak of the news that He could grant people's wishes.
Moreover, the leak of information was not accidental; it was the result of collusion between factions within the clan who were unwilling to be subordinate to others and external enemies, who, for their own selfish interests, did not hesitate to create this horrific conflict.
He didn't understand.
Even though everyone receives roughly the same share of the profits, and under His protection, there will be a continuous stream of wealth coming in the future, why would someone turn against their former brothers and comrades and even plot to kill them just to get an extra piece of gold in the immediate share of the profits?
Perhaps many of the tribespeople being led were obeying out of loyalty and obligation, and their souls were not so corrupted that He found them repulsive. In the monster's mind, their sins were not enough to warrant death, or at least not so disgusting that He wanted to kill them.
Or perhaps looking at those familiar and dear faces made Him feel it was a pity He died.
Or perhaps, wherever He looked, there was constant strife, and there were so many opportunists and scoundrels that if He were to take action, there would be hardly anyone left in this vast city-state.
He, who could control his power to the extreme, suddenly didn't know how to act.
If Xie Xubai were present, he would have been able to discern a sense of bewilderment in the several tentacles that He raised and lowered repeatedly.
At that time, however, no one could withstand the spiritual corruption of the evil god's true form. He had also long since shielded everyone's senses, so no one could see His bewilderment.
With their homes destroyed, the heartbroken people rushed into the ancestral hall.
As always, they prayed that He would use His power to tear the traitors to pieces and condemn them to eternal damnation.
But I received no response.
They felt even more resentful and roared with all their might, but the dilapidated ancestral hall remained deathly silent.
People looked up blankly and saw the Buddha statue, devoid of sorrow or joy, standing tall amidst the raging flames of war, high above and unmoved by the nauseating stench of blood.
The conflict lasted until the very end, when the young clan chief summoned reinforcements in a moment of crisis and forcefully suppressed the rebellion.
He was covered in blood, his hair disheveled, his armor shattered into countless pieces. He looked up at the devastated city streets littered with corpses, listening to his men reciting the casualty figures in a grief-stricken tone. His lips tightened little by little.
Finally, upon hearing that many of his relatives had tragically perished, the young clan leader's eyes suddenly widened in fury. He forcefully grabbed a warhammer, dragged it to the ground with a clang, and strode into the ancestral hall.
He saw that the Buddha statue was covered with many bloody handprints, and there was still blood on it. These were the marks left by the survivors when they rushed forward to beg for mercy.
The bloodstains snaked along the path, a sign of foreboding.
The Buddha statues, which they usually regarded as auspicious, suddenly took on a sinister and eerie aura amidst the people's uncontrollable weeping and the dim gloom.
It seemed that was its true form.
"Evil thing, evil thing...!"
The young clan leader's pale lips trembled, and every word he uttered was brimming with boundless resentment. He swung his warhammer with all his might, smashing the Buddha statue into pieces with a loud crash: "It is you, you evil creature, who caused trouble and war, leading to the destruction of our family and the suffering of countless lives!"
Author's Note:
Do you believe me if I say I've been staying up all night and only managed to write two thousand words? QAQ
Apologies for the late update and the short length. I'll be giving away 88 small red envelopes in the comments section as compensation, sob.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com